


I love him

by StarWarsFreak19



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Blood, Cara might be slightly autistic because autistic author and all, F/M, Face Reveal, Greef the comic relief, Loss of Parent(s), Mandalorian Culture, Mando'a, Medical Inaccuracies, More tags to be added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22258183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarWarsFreak19/pseuds/StarWarsFreak19
Summary: Alternate ending of Chapter 8 cause I really needed more Cara/Mando and its not the most popular pairing so I write this. Only doing 1 more chapter, but may make a series later on. I want to do a new writing club prompt (or one that you guys send in)
Relationships: Cara Dune & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Cara Dune/The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 114
Collections: Writing Club Works





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is for my writing club prompt #1: The Mandalorian Chapter 8 AU Hopefully more on this prompt coming soon Chapter 2 is halfway done!

“I’m gonna need to take this thing off.”

Cara felt an intense range of emotion. She didn’t want to break his code, but at the same time, she wouldn’t let him die. She couldn’t let him die. She admitted to herself just recently that she did, in fact, have a crush on Mando. No, Din. A huge crush. To the point of loving him.

Filled with emotion, she reached to remove the helmet, desperate for any way to keep him alive. But when she did, he grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“I can’t show my face to anyone. This is the way.”

This was the only way she could keep him from dying and he’d just snuffed it out. Cara could feel the dampness in her eyes as he said this.

No.

No!

She was NOT crying. Cara Dune did not cry. She did not feel any emotion besides anger. And yet, this man, whose face she has never seen is tearing down that barricade.

“We both know I’m going to die,” he said.

He had just said the one thing she wanted to pretend she didn’t know, the one thing she didn’t want to believe was true. But hearing his voice say that had just made it more terrible, like it was a confirmation.

She felt a tear run down her face, clinging to her skin as it slowly inches its way down her face. As it reached the corner of her mouth, she licked it away, hoping he wasn’t aware enough to notice the inevitable reflection shining off the moisture on her face. It tasted salty and mellow, tempting more tears.

She didn’t agree with it, nor want it to happen, but if he was determined to die opposed to betray his code, that was his choice. But she was not going to let anything, not even her own fear stop her from telling him one thing.

This was how many people confessed their feelings and she felt stupid, weak confessing to him in this way, regretting the fact that she had never told him before it was to this point.

“Din?”

She tried his first name cautiously, worrying that birth name usage might not be allowed among his people. But she felt this was way too personal to just call him Mando.

“Yeah?”

He didn’t sound angry at the use of his birth name, which was a positive, but she wasn’t about to push it any further.

She wanted to talk to him calmly, but she found herself unable to do so.

“Okay, so if you’re gonna die, which I really don’t want to happen, I’m gonna tell you this just so you know.”

She knew her voice was cracking, something she knew he couldn’t miss. She was nervous as hell, but she knew this would be her only chance, that she would regret it for the rest of her life if she didn’t tell him.

“I love you.”

There. She said it. She could stop now. But she didn’t. She couldn’t.

“I have since Sorgan. I know it’s stupid, but I thought you should know if you’re gonna die and all.”

There was a moment of silence. Cara was scared to death that he had gone unconscious or hated her for this. But Mando broke the silence.

“You know how much I want to kiss you right now, but I can’t. And it destroys me.”

Cara felt like she was dying. Mando actually returned her emotions, and over that, his first reaction was that he wanted to kiss her.

He spoke up again. “But there might be a way for me to live.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mando shares his idea with Cara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a lot shorter, but I like writing cliff hangers

“But there might be a way for me to live.”

“I’m open to anything at this point.” She said, relief flooding through her. Maybe they did have a chance after all. Maybe they could develop an actual relationship. 

He continued. “The only exception to the helmet rule is that I can travel my face to my wife and children.”

That sent her into a full-blown panic. “The kid’s not strong enough to heal you on his own.” He has already stopped a wall of fire from engulfing them entirely in flames with his ‘magic hand thing’. 

Din sighed.

“Cara, will you marry me?” 

He sounded genuine but didn’t he understand the depth of this time?

Cara was thoroughly confused. “Not the time, dumbass. You’re dying!” It was surprising, even to her, the sharpness of her tone. 

He responded to that as if she was stupid. And after his next words, she saw why. 

“But my wife can see my face. Cara, I fell for you the moment I saw you and I’d be willing to do this. It only takes a few sentences from each of us to be official, but I’m willing to teach you, if you want. But you don’t have to if you’re not ready.”

Cara might’ve answered him a little too eagerly. “Teach me.”

Cara could feel him looking at her. 

“You know you can’t go back on this decision. It’s not allowed,” he warned her. 

She looked at him. “I’d never regret this decision. Ever. I’d never regret anything I do for you.”

“You sure?” He asked, a little overly cautious. 

Getting a little frustrated, she responded, “Yes, I’m sure. I love you and all, but you’re getting on my nerves.”

Cara herself was honestly surprised about how open she was being with him. It wasn’t something she usually did. Normally, she would keep everything to herself so that no one could use what she said against her. 

“Okay then, repeat after me,” he said, obvious he was giving her one last chance to back out of it. 

Cara nodded intently. “Ready.”

“Mhi solus tome.” He said, slowly so that she was able to follow. 

She parroted him perfectly. “Mhi solus tome.”

“Mhi solus dar’tome.” He said next. 

“Mhi solus dar’tome.” Cara echoed.

“Mhi me’dinui an.” 

“Mhi me’dinui an.” 

“Mhi ba’juri verde.” he finished.

“Mhi ba’juri verde.”

There was just dead silence. 

“Is that it?” she asked, hoping she hadn’t done something wrong.

His response was so simple, yet so complex. It was not the one she had been expecting.

He reached up to his helmet slowly. 

There was a hissing sound a second after he reached the helmet. 

Then, he slowly lifted the helmet off his head. He slid it off slowly, revealing his face a few inches at a time.

When she could fully see his face, her breath caught in her throat. 

For more than one reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos mean the world to me. I will respond to each and every one! Chapter 3 is being written right now!
> 
> The Mando'a is pronounced:
> 
> mee SOH-loos TOH-may, mee SOH-loos dar-TOH-may, mee med-IN-oo-eer, mee bah-jur-EER VAIR-day. 
> 
> Literally translates to:
> 
> We are one when together, we are one when apart, We share all, we will raise warriors.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cara finally sees Din's face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so bad about not updating in forever. I had a bunch of violin concerts, I had my school's science fair, I had to type an essay, this chapter was so long, stressing about midterms, getting a girlfriend. That's no excuse but I'm sorry.

Her first thought was how kriffing hot he was before realizing what bad shape he was in.

His face was caked in semi-dried blood, and fresh blood was freely flowing from his nose and his forehead. Some of his hair almost had the effect of being dyed red from the blood. 

There was just so much blood!

“IG! Get over here. Now

At Cara’s both strict and worried tone, IG-11 handed the child over to Greef, who took him reluctantly before rushing, in a way, toward the pair. 

The droid could get annoying at times, and this was definitely one of those times. 

“His helmet is not on his head. This is unusual.” He said as if it wasn’t obvious. 

Cara wanted nothing more than to absolutely destroy that scrap heap at that point, which took every ounce of willpower not to do. 

“Yeah. I see that,” she responded, annoyed, “Now help me out here and get me bacta and something to clean his face with.”

Seconds later, she was using a damp cloth to pick the dried blood off his face.

When the blood was clear, she quickly wiped her hands off before ripping open the bacta packet and scooping out a small handful of glop. She spread a little over his cut on his forehead and right under his nose.

After she finished, she reached up hesitantly to his hair, still not sure about boundaries. She had just acted when she saw his face, but she probably should’ve made sure it was okay. 

But Din’s voice broke through the tense silence.

“It’s fine, Cara.”

At his okay, Cara started picking the pieces of dry blood out of his soft hair. Some of it wasn’t totally dry, so she had to wipe her hands off more times than she could count to keep it from getting worse.

There was still some liquid on his head, but that would need to be rinsed out later.

She scooped out another glop of bacta and spread it over the gash on his head. The bacta was visibly working, which was good.

“How are you feeling?” Cara asked.

“Like shit,” he responded, “but better than I was five minutes ago.”

Cara was relieved. “That’s good.”

Greef cut in from across the room. “We’re gonna need to get out of here before we’re burned alive.”

Cara sighed. “Greef’s right. We need to get somewhere safe to get you further medical treatment.”

Din reluctantly nodded and reached for his helmet, but was stopped when Cara pulled it out of his reach.

“You are not putting that back on. Your head wound is still healing, and we don’t need that getting infected.”

Greef, again, piped in from across the room. “We need to get moving. Looks like they’re getting ready to blow the door. I can walk in front of you with the kid. Cara and IG can help you walk.”

Cara sighed, slightly panicked.

SLIGHTLY.

“We’ve got no other choice. Where can we go?”

Din was visibly annoyed, but replied, “The Mandalorians are stationed in the sewers. I think there’s an entrance in here somewhere.”

“It’s over here!” Greef called, “IG, get it open!”

The droid wasted no time cutting open the hatch.

Greef climbed down first, with the child.

When they were clear, IG dropped down.

“Miss Cara, please lower Master Mando down to me carefully.”

When her husband was safely down, she stepped down the ladder and slammed the hatch shut, a few seconds to spare before the door blew.

She had to admit that it was beautiful, but she didn’t stay and admire it, as Din was her first priority.

“Which way?” she asked Din.

“I’m not familiar with this part of the covert. If we keep walking, I’ll probably recognize something.”

They walked slowly for about ten standard minutes, Cara and IG supporting Din, when he stopped Cara.

“Stop. I know this tunnel. The left path will lead to the main area about a minute in.”

Cara was glad he recognized something. She’d begun to think he’d gotten a concussion because of how little he recognized.

“You’ll need this, then,” she said, starting to hand the helmet over to IG-11.

Din reached for his most prized possession, but Cara wouldn’t let him have it.

“IG, you are to hold this above his head so that his face is covered, but it shall not under any circumstances, touch his head.” Her voice was sharp and serious.

“Yes, Miss Cara.”

IG obeyed, holding the helmet while still supporting Din.

Eventually, they reached the main room, by the looks of it. 

In the middle of the room was a pile of Mandalorian armor.

When Din saw it, he ducked under the helmet, stumbled forward a few steps, and fell to his knees in front of the pile. 

He was obviously crying and that made Cara’s heart break. 

She walked over to him tentatively and sat next to him with her knees on the floor in front of her and her feet out to the side.

It felt a little awkward, but in a need to comfort her husband, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

His tears were dripping on her arms, and Cara wanted nothing more than to wipe them away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a couple lol moments with imagining. I could just see IG waddling over, Cara and IG playing monkey in the middle with Din's helmet. Thank you so much for your patience.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Din’s POV mostly. Short.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was prewritten and short. We have 430 words exactly in this chapter. I love cliff hangers so that’s what you get. Not sorry 🙃

When Cara and IG led him into the commons room, his breath caught. 

He couldn’t believe it. 

That pile could only mean one thing. 

He  _ wouldn’t  _ believe it. 

A Mandalorian’s  _ beskar’gam  _ was only removed under conditions of severe injury, sleep, for their  _ aliit _ , and death. And all but the last of those options didn’t fit the current situation, the pile. 

_ It must be the visor, _ he decided. It had to be. It couldn’t be true. 

He ducked under the helmet, held in place by Kuill’s droid and stepped forward wearily. Kriff the head injury. 

What he saw the confirmation, and it made his knees give out from under him and he fell to the ground. 

On top of the pile, placed strategically, was the helmet of his adopted father, Paz Vizsla. 

The memories flooded his mind. 

_ The darkness, unsure how long he would be there, blasterfire above, hearing it stop suddenly, and being blinded by light.  _

_ Seeing the same helmet that now sat atop a pile of remains in front of him look down on him, the man inside signaling that it was okay to come out.  _

The man whose helmet now lay discarded in front of him was his father in all ways but blood, gone. 

His  _ buir  _ is gone. Not only that, but his entire  _ aliit  _ is gone. 

_ Dead _ . 

Because of him. Because of his failure. It’s all his fault. 

He barely noticed Cara sit down next to him and embrace him, somewhat awkwardly. 

The devastation he felt was overwhelming. 

He felt a tear slowly drop down his face, followed by another. Din felt weak. Mandalorians were strong, they were warriors. The promise to protect their clan as the third tenet of the  _ Resol’nare _ . 

The tears flowed freely and he was unable to stop them. 

~~~

She heard Din say something in a language she didn’t recognize. It was quiet and choked. 

“What?” She asked her husband. She was honestly worried. Din had never shown any sign of weakness. 

“ _ Aliit ori’shya tal’din _ ,” he repeated, a bit louder and clearer, still full of grief. 

Confused, she said, “I don’t know what that means.”

“It’s a saying,” he choked out, “Family is more than blood.” 

It hit her. This was his family. She had known that his blood family had been killed when he was a child. She hadn’t known that the Mandalorians were his  _ family _ now. 

“My father.”

Cara just hugged him tighter, not caring about he armor digging into her at various points of her body. 

She doesn’t know how long they’re sitting there, but it’s a long time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated, as are prompts, fandom specific or not.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending

A while later, there were footsteps. Cara looked up to see a gold-armored Mandalorian looking down on them.

It was kind of intimidating.

She nudged Din, who looked up and jumped.

The gold-armored Mandalorian talked sternly in what Cara assumed was the same language Din was using earlier.

“ _ Din Djarin. Vaii gar buy’ce? Megin ibic dala? Megin ibic jag ti troan bat choruk? Megin ibic beskar’ad? _ ”

Din looked over, seemingly confused.

Cara followed his gaze and let out a soft laugh, as she saw Greef with his face shoved into the wall. It was pretty funny.

Din spoke back. “ _ Alor, ni rejorhaa’ir gar ni nayc dar’manda- _ ”

Cara interrupted him. “Sorry for interrupting, but does she speak basic?”

“Yes,” the golden Mandalorian answered.

“I can explain this, then, if that’s okay with you,” Cara said.

The golden Mandalorian nodded, and Cara began telling the story.

“Din and I first met on Sorgan,” she started, but the golden Mandalorian held up a hand to stop her, and turned to Din.

“ _ Gar jate kaysh sirbur gar goten bal? _ ” she asked.

Din nodded. “ _ Elek. Gar ner riduur. _ ”

The gold Mandalorian motioned for Cara to continue.

“We worked together to help a village in need, but we parted ways afterward. A few days ago, he came back to Sorgan to enlist me in a mission to ensure the child’s safety.”

“ _ Adiik meg tegaanalir ni _ ,” Din put in.

It kind of pissed Cara off that they were having a conversation in another language at the same time. She’d have to have him teach her some later.

She continued. “He had already picked up the owner of the droid and Mr. Greef-Karga-I-have-my-face-in-a-wall got roped in later. The droid’s owner sacrificed himself for the good of the child.

“ _ Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum, _ ” the golden Mandalorian said softly. 

It was still very annoying that she couldn’t understand what they were saying, but she decided to finish the story. “Din got pretty banged up in the last battle, and, ummm….”

Cara was at a loss for words, not knowing exactly what would be appropriate to say. 

The golden Mandalorian seemed to understand. “You know that this is a lifelong commitment, right?”

Cara nodded and moved close to Din. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are love. I wrote a new song if any of you want to listen. https://soundcloud.com/starwars-freak19 Prompts are accepted and appreciated. Wishes of good health and immunity to you and your families.
> 
> Translations:  
> -Din Djarin. Vaii gar buy’ce? Megin ibic dala? Megin ibic jag ti troan bat choruk? Megin ibic beskar’ad?- Din Djarin, where is your helmet? Who is this woman? Who is the man with his face in the wall? What is this droid?  
> -Alor, ni rejorhaa’ir gar ni nayc dar’manda- Leader, I can assure you that I am not dar'manda (the act of no longer being a mandalorian)  
> -Gar jate kaysh sirbur gar goten bal?- Are you okay with her using your birth name?  
> -Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum- Mandalorian mourning phrase, lit. I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments mean the WORLD to me in this. Sometimes my friends won’t give me honest opinions, but they all liked it and wanted more so I hope you guys feel the same. Edit: hopefully updating tomorrow around the same time maybe later. I’m really enjoying writing this and I’m crying. Over 150 hits in a few hours. Thank you so much.


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